Tag Archives: Sound! Euphonium

Sound! Euphonium – Episode 10

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Another extremely strong episode of Euphonium this week, though I know many people were understandably disappointed. Personally, I agree that the framing so far has seemed really supportive of some kind of romantic tension between Kumiko and Kousaka, but as long as the storytelling stays this good, I’m pretty fine with wherever this all goes. All I know is this episode made terrific use of all the character development so far, playing the characters against the main ideas in a way that felt natural and dramatically satisfying. Euphonium continues to impress.

Here’s my big ol’ episode post. And lots of notes below!

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Spring 2015 – Week 10 in Review

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Another very fine week in a very fine season. Oregairu and Euphonium both pulled off characteristically wonderful episodes this week, but the real surprises were JoJo and – I’m serious – Nagato Yuki. On the JoJo side, the Dio-Kakyoin fight managed to not only be exciting and entertaining, but genuinely beautiful. And on the Nagato Yuki side, an abrupt shift in tone resulted in an episode that was almost equally beautiful in its own way, slow-building and melancholy and just brimming with a compelling, deeply felt sense of atmosphere. Color me extremely surprised!

Alright, enough preamble. LET’S RUN ‘EM DOWN.

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Sound! Euphonium – Episode 9

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A somewhat lesser episode of Euphonium this week, split evenly between friendship and anxiety. There were good moments scattered throughout, and the cast remains strong, but I guess basically anything would feel like a comedown after last week. My favorite scene here was easily the Kaori-Haruka centerpiece – in just a bare handful of scenes, those two have managed to define themselves and their friendship in sharp and poignant strokes. Their conversation here reflected a great deal of the central concerns of Euphonium, from friendship to personal excellence to the fear of wasting your precious time, and having them essentially be stuck as the unhappy counterweight to Kousaka is a really inspired choice. This show’s base variables are really damn good.

Here’s my full review. More notes below!

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Spring 2015 – Week 9 in Review

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I should have something piercing and salient to say here, but really I’m just staring at all the stupid faces I chose for the episodes this week and giggling to myself. Goddamnit Takeo. Goddamnit Shinji. Hurray for silly anime faces.

Anyway, some anime came out this week. It wasn’t the best week, outside of Oregairu having one more Holy Shit Good episode, but most of the episodes were reasonable nonetheless. Let’s run ’em down!

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Sound! Euphonium – Episode 8

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So yeah, that was an all-time great. One of the best episodes I’ve ever seen this studio produce. God damn.

I wrote essentially a double-length review for this one, and I still barely even got to cover the tremendous acuity of shot framing and animation that elevated what was already a fundamentally well-written and wonderfully composed episode. This was basically the first episode where Kousaka got to come into her own as a character, and she made the most of it, dazzling Kumiko and basically everyone else through her proud, captivating personality. From the quieter moments with Hazuki and Midori, or Goto and Riko, up to that tremendous finale sequence, everything here was poignant and beautiful. KyoAni are playing in the stars again.

Here’s my full review. Notes below!

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Spring 2015 – Week 8 in Review

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Holy crap did this week have some peaks. God damn. Not all the episodes here were great, but the ones that were… I’d be surprised and ecstatic to see Oregairu and Euphonium’s episodes here somehow be challenged for positions in the top 5 episodes of the year. They were both just That Good – that full of everything that makes their respective series great, and that satisfying as a realization of everything that had come before. Those two episodes were stunning, and I feel lucky to be watching two shows that good in the same season.

Anyway, some other episodes came out too, I guess. Let’s run ’em down!

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Spring 2015 – Week 7 in Review

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There were some good episodes this week, with JoJo and Oregairu tossing out particular standouts, but overall, I have to say this one was defined by its worst episodes. Nagato Yuki had a second straight episode that was just completely without merit, and Unlimited Blade Works hit what I really, deeply hope has to be rock bottom. Last week I expressed hope that Caster’s absence would help the show regain a sense of momentum – well, apparently Archer had other plans. He’s always been one of the weakest parts of this show, and this episode was his grand performance, where twenty minutes of dialogue conveyed ten lines of information we already knew. I’m too far in to stop now, but UBW is not making the ride easy.

But that’s enough doom and gloom for now. Let’s talk JOJO.

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Sound! Euphonium – Episode 7

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Euphonium’s rainy day episode knocks it out of the park. Aoi’s long-hinted exiting of the band sends ripples all across the group, and Haruka is really given some time to shine as we dig into her very understandable leadership insecurities. We also got the first big questions regarding the almost-too-perfect Asuka, and Kumiko’s side neatly reflected all of this with her worries about losing one friendship and solace in the warmth of her new ones. I’ve got a fair number of notes on this one, since a lot of this episode’s strengths came in tiny details, so let’s get to it!

Here’s my full episode review. Notes below!

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Spring 2015 – First Half in Review

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Time again at last. Episodes have passed, cartoons have risen and fallen, and the moment has arrived for us to once again slot stories into a reductive hierarchy that cheapens the very idea of media consumption. Does ranking shows inherently contribute to a system that commodifies art and undercuts the complexity of emotional engagement? Are we essentially belittling ourselves by implying that our relationship with the stories we choose to consume can be summed up through a simple “eh, at least it’s better than this other one?” Will any of the people whose attitudes I’m critiquing in this opening paragraph possibly not skip to the numbers themselves, rendering this sarcastic thought experiment totally pointless?

Maybe so. But goddamnit, we’re gonna do it anyway.

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Sound! Euphonium – Episode 6

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This was a less tightly focused and mood-based episode than the last, but still very good in its own way. We returned to some Kyoto Animation House Comedy this time (which was fitting, since I learned this was largely anime-original), and the results were about as consistently funny as KyoAni can ever be. KyoAni are just way better at understanding the rules of comedy than most studios, and so even an episode like this in a show with a generally different tone can come off as enjoyable. The characters bounce off each other well, the small moments are captured with signature grace, and the central themes keep bubbling to the surface. I’m reaaally hoping we get that split-cour announcement some time soon…

My full writeup is available here. Semi-useless notes down below!

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